Senior Collections Manager

Overview

The Museum of Southwestern Biology (MSB) invites applications for a Science Museum Collection Manager 2 for the Division of Genomic Resources (DGR), a full-time, 12-month staff position at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. The ideal candidate will bring a natural history museum background, the technical expertise to manage a cryo-collection, and will welcome opportunities for mentoring, outreach, and collections growth at a research-intensive (Carnegie R1) academic institution.

Founded in 1979, DGR is one of the oldest and largest natural history museum frozen tissue collections in the world. Its approximately 700,000 cryovials constitute a frozen time capsule of Earth’s biological heritage—a continuously growing archive of vouchered genetic material drawn from across the Tree of Life. Mammal tissues account for roughly 90% of the collection, with exceptional holdings from western North America, Beringia and East Asia, and Latin America, alongside significant representation of birds, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates, and plants.

• Comprehensive knowledge of best practices in natural history collections management, encompassing the full lifecycle of holistic specimens — from permitting, field acquisition, and preparation through cataloging, preservation, and long‑term archival stewardship; demonstrated experience managing and linking associated specimen materials across physically or institutionally distributed collections.
• Familiarity with molecular biology and genomic methods, including DNA/RNA extraction, preservation, and quality assessment, and awareness of the growing range of scientific applications of frozen biological collections (e.g., pathogen surveillance, environmental contaminant research, conservation genomics, isotopic ecology).
• Proficiency in Arctos ((Use the "Apply for this Job" box below).), or a clear commitment to developing it; ability to manage and link specimen parts via object tracking across multiple collections and institutions within this system; willingness to engage with the broader Arctos community and contribute to its ongoing development.
• Ability to work collaboratively with Collection Managers across all MSB divisions and to coordinate effectively with university facilities management, contractors, and institutional administration on behalf of the collections.
• Aptitude for identifying and cultivating new collection development opportunities, including partnerships with research programs, long‑term ecological monitoring networks, conservation organizations, state and federal agencies, and other institutions.
• Experience with biodiversity data aggregators (e.g., iDigBio, GBIF, Vert Net) and familiarity with data standards for specimen and tissue records.
• Ability to develop and implement emergency response protocols for personnel and collection safety; strong organizational, interpersonal, and supervisory skills, including the ability to train and direct student and staff workers and communicate effectively with a diverse range of constituencies.
• Skill in budget preparation, fiscal management, and grant administration, including tracking facility maintenance expenditures and preparing grant reports.

• Manages all aspects of DGR collections care by following and implementing accepted museum and biorepository standards for permitting, acquiring, processing, and cataloging incoming material and associated documentation, data entry, database management, maintenance of systematic order, and routine conservation; develops strategies to upgrade the physical condition of the collection and increase efficiency.
• Manages the full tissue loan workflow — from subsample selection through preparation, documentation, packaging, and domestic and international shipment; ensures all transactions are accurately recorded in Arctos and that applicable institutional, legal, and biosafety requirements are met for each shipment; tracks the scientific outcomes of loaned material, including monitoring resulting publications and linking loaned samples to associated papers and Gen Bank accessions in Arctos.
• Maintains and actively manages…